The present invention relates to a method for processing value documents and means for carrying out the method.
In this context, value documents are understood to mean sheet-shaped objects, which represent for example a monetary value or an authorization and thus shall not be manufacturable at will by unauthorized persons. Therefore, they have features not easy to manufacture, in particular to copy, whose presence is an indication of the authenticity, i.e. the manufacturing by a body authorized thereto. Important examples of such value documents are coupons, vouchers, checks and in particular bank notes.
Value documents may have, depending on the type, an individual identifier. An individual identifier within the framework of the present invention is understood to mean a machine-readable property distinguishing the individual value document from other value documents, also of the same type, which allows an unequivocal identification of the individual value document and a secure differentiation from other value documents. In the case of value documents in the form of banks notes, such an individual identifier can be a serial number of the bank note. In the case of checks a check number, where applicable, in connection with account data.
Value documents, in particular banks notes, are often checked by machine and sorted into stacks, in order to then fill them into containers, for example cassettes or boxes, which do not necessarily need to be completely closed. Then the containers are employed, for example, for the distribution of the banks notes or for the usage of the banks notes in automatic teller machines. It would often be desirable if it could be determined, also after the filling of a cassette with such value documents having individual identifiers, which value documents were filled into the cassettes. Similar requirements may arise for other usages of stacks with value documents having individual identifiers.